Beyond Bloody Rare: Vanilla to Cataclysm Rare Spawns

This guide provides an overview of the most interesting rares added between launch and Cataclysm. While this does not cover every rare that has negligible drops, it covers those tied to achievements, interesting loot, mounts, and lore.

Cataclysm Rares

One of the more iconic zones in Cataclysm, Deepholm is an area known for Therazane dailies more than anything else. But it's also home to several rares, including two of the most famous ones.

Aeonaxx flies around the center of Deepholm as a friendly NPC, the mate of Aeosera (who you may remember from Resonating Blow). He's neither ground nor sky level; he flies around parallel to the middle of the temple. He only becomes hostile once you engage him which you do so by mounting him. Once mounted, he flies around and attempts to knock you off while whelplings attack you. It's an easy fight at level 85, but if you're below the level, consider being nice and not engaging--if you die, disconnect, or otherwise fail the encounter, he'll despawn.

Aeonaxx's spawn rates are still a debate months later; the only confirmed piece of data is that he seems to share spawns with Blood Seeker, a level 15 non-elite bat. So if you see the bat, RNG is against you and that could have been the dragon if you were a bit luckier. For people's kill stories and speculations, the Aeonaxx kill and sighting thread at Wowhead's own forums is a great place to read.

Jadefang is a rare with two purposes: it is a unique model tameable by a Hunter and it also drops a vanity pet. Luckily for both parties who may be tempted to camp this NPC, it's on a relatively quick spawn timer that's much more reliable than other rares. Its spawn timer seems to be anywhere from six hours to twenty-four hours, frequently varying, but never longer than that.

The only difficult part of this rare is actually getting to it. The spider resides deep in the underground caves of Deepholm on a ledge inaccessible to most players. There are several creative ways to get on the ledge, however. The intended way is to pick up Underground Economy which gives you Ricket's Tickers. Set the bombs on a stone near the ledge with your back facing the ledge entrance--you will get blasted backwards onto the ledge. It will take a couple times to position yourself correctly, but is relatively easy otherwise.

Of course, if you don't have the appropriate reputation or if the daily isn't available, you can also try a couple other tricks. For starters, you can kill yourself on the ledge by luring an enemy there; once dead, you should be able to fly back there and get onto the ledge. Another way, albeit more desperate, is to disconnect your router or modem while flying straight into the cave. The cave eventually dismounts you, but if you are disconnecting this is slower, so if angled correctly you should be able to fly right to the ledge while disconnected. It's also worth mentioning that others may have saved the daily and their bombs can help you. Goblin racials also work for rocket jumping up.

Terborus is a gyreworm that spawns directly to the west of the entrance to the Crumbling Depths. He's much larger than the other worms in the area and also has a golden hue. He's an easy fight and drops ilvl 346 bracers for your troubles.

Xariona spawns just above where Aeonaxx spawns, flying at the top of the temple in a circle. She is a world boss rare that drops an epic, a watered-down version of the original green dragons and Azuregos. Instead of 40 players, however, this NPC only takes 5 or so to defeat.

The dragon is on the timers of the world bosses in general and isn't tied to other rares in the zone. It doesn't require much of a strategy, beyond standing in Twilight Zone when it is put on the ground to avoid taking colossal amounts of damage. Most groups, however, won't even encounter the need for this due to how quickly the mob will die. In addition to dropping her special epic, she also drops a random ilvl 359 BoE and a rare pattern.

Compromised of three smaller zones, Vashj'ir sends you deep into the seas of Azeroth. It contains a wide array of rares--from a tribute to Lady Gaga to a seahorse that sells for tens of thousands of gold on the auction house, there's a little bit of everything to discover under its deceptively calm waters.

In the depths of the Shimmering Expanse there's a ghostly gnome that few rare hunters know about; more often than not, he's taken down by someone looking for a certain seahorse. Burgy Blackheart is quite a notable rare, however, as he has a 100% droprate of a pirate's hat that turns you into a spitting image of himself without cooldown when equipped. This hat also has no level requirements, making it quite the find for bank alt aficionados.

This gnome seems to be on a common spawn timer--he can show up anywhere from six to twenty-four hours from the time he was last killed and is up more often than not. He also only has one spawn place, next to his sunken ship, Diane's Fancy.

Captain Florence and Captain Foulwind are two disappointingly useless rares. They will frequently set rare tracking mods off and get your hopes up for naught as they have no special drops besides a couple of gold, not even a blue. It's worth noting that they are above the waves, standing proudly on their respective faction's ships. You also can't attack the one affiliated with your faction (Foulwind for the Horde and Florence for the Alliance).

If you see one of these NPCs, consider doing the lower level players a favor by leaving him up as they do give some nice experience. That's all anyone can get out of these captains, anyway.

Find everyone's favorite crab taking long walks on the underground beach in the Abyssal Depths. This spectral crab pays homage to Ghostcrawler, the bringer of bad news and class nerfs to angry players on the forums. While he'll cast Nerfbat, it won't break your tame and it won't wreck your class for the next 6 months. Any QQ is not his fault.

A tribute to Lady Gaga, Lady La-La reigns supreme in the south end of Kelp'thar Forest looking like Lady Vashj with a little added flair--she's wearing Gnomish X-Ray Specs--to emulate the real world star's iconic attire. She drops her staple trinket every time and is extremely easy to kill; her two abilities parodies of her real life songs, so you'd best watch out as she can catch you in a Briny Romance.

She remains stationary to her spot and is a common spawn it seems, much like Burgy Blackheart or other rares of that caliber.

One of the world bosses, Mobus roams high above the whirlpool leading to Throne of the Tides. He drops a ilvl 359 BoE and a rare recipe in addition to his signature weapon. He puts up a fun but easy fight--swimming plays an important role in this fight. When Wake is cast, all players should swim down to avoid it, and when Ram is cast, the tank should swim down to avoid this frontal cone. Enrage can be removed normally and Algae works like green fire--get out of it.

Rule the seas with this awesome mount. Poseidus can be elusive to find, so we've got a whole thread dedicated to tracking him here. Spawning at one of five locations in either the Shimmering Expanse or the Abyssal Depths, there's a chance he might not even spawn every reset. In addition to dropping his sweet mount that works in all bodies of water, he drops an ilvl 359 epic BoE and a rare recipe.

Poseidus tends to swim higher than most NPCs in Vash'jir so a good technique is to fly above the water.

Shok'sharak is a level 82 mob by the Scalding Chasm in the Abyssal Depths that drops ilvl 346 boots--a pretty good deal. He's a Faceless One in flamboyant red armor that casts a few easy abilities--Shadow Crash, Shadow Nova, and Mind Flay.

The conflict between Ragnaros and the Guardians of Hyjal heats up in 4.2, as level 85 players return to this starting zone to further protect this sacred zone. In 4.2, there's an exciting array of tamable pets to be found in the zone, as well as useful BoEs from both old and new NPCs.

Anhka (Spirit Beast)

Anhka, a non-aggressive spirit beast, is a spectral cat located in the Regrowth in Mount Hyjal. This looks like a reskin of Gondria with a white body and black stripes. Anhka is immune to all CC and is buffed with --this increases the player's damage taken based on their armor rating. So, take off all your gear with armor and tame Anhka, or else be one-shot.

Ban'thalos (Spirit Beast)

Ban'thalos, a non-aggressive spirit beast ghost owl, paths by the Sanctuary of Malorne in Mount Hyjal. The challenge is that Ban'thalos flies around extremely high up (and rumor has it he'll be relocated even higher on live servers), so be prepared to take fall damage or position yourself on a convenient ledge. When aggroed, Ban'thalos attacks with .

Everyone wishes this NPC would drop a look-alike mount. Blazewing, while categorized as an elemental and therefore untameable, looks very similar to the Ashes of Al'ar with a golden body and fiery wings. He flies around central Hyjal, to the east of the Regrowth. As a level 81 mob dropping ilvl 346 pants that are great for druids, he's fairly easy to kill--just remember not to let Flame Buffet stack too high.

Garr seems to have survived several years of attacks in Molten Core: he shows up to the west of the Sulfuron Spire with even his posse of mini rock elementals. He's on a general world boss timer unlike the other rares in Hyjal; he also has a similar loot table to the other world bosses. In addition to dropping Garr's Girdle of Reinforced Memories, he is guaranteed to drop an additional ilvl 359 BoE and a rare BoE pattern.

You only need 5 people to kill Garr: the fight references elements of the original encounter in Molten Core. He periodically casts Antimagic Pulse which removes one buff, slows down your party with Magma Shackles, and casts Massive Eruption which you must run out of to survive. His adds can be pulled separately and do a smaller version of this AoE explosion.

Magria (Spirit Beast)

Magria, a non-aggressive spirit beast, is also located in the Regrowth in Mount Hyjal along with Anhka. Just like taming Anhka, you will need to remove your armor to tame this spirit beast or get one-shot. Out of the spectral tigers, Magria looks the most distinctive with a blue body and black stripes.

Terrorpene is a cuddly fiery turtle that just wants to be your friend. Located in the lava surrounding Sulfuron Spire, this mob has a distinctive fiery and spiked shell that sets it apart from the other turtles. He's fairly easy to tame, even at lower levels--get some fire resistance though to negate Burning Hatred.

Fun fact: terrapins are a species of turtle native to coastal swamps. Fiery lava isn't exactly a swamp, but thats a neat reference anyway.

Thartuk is a two-headed gronn that likes to stroll Northern Hyjal around Nordrassil. You can't miss him because of his fiery Gladiator's Pummeler. He's very easy to kill and while his loot is not as high ilvl as Blazewing's is, the leather agility gloves are still very nice for leveling.

An action-packed end-zone, Twilight Highlands has some rares for everyone--hunter pets, world bosses, funny BoEs. All these rares, save for the world boss, share a fairly frequent spawn timer.

Karoma, a spirit beast resembling a spectral ghost wolf, can spawn in six places in southern Twilight Highlands. While the zone does use phasing, you can see this pet regardless of your quest progress. For those hunters who didn't stack haste and tame Ancient Grimtotem Spirit Guide before it was fixed, here's your chance to tame an identical beast!

One of the strangest-looking NPCs, Julak-Doom appears to be an abomination with a mess of tentacles stuck on his head. He patrols northernmost Twilight Highlands to the east of the Maw of Madness. He drops a nice epic dagger, an additional BoE epic, and a rare pattern.

He was tough to defeat in his previous 40-player version, but he can be 5-manned rather easily now, with recent reports of heroic-geared players duoing him. The trick to this encounter is breaking the mind controls resulting from Dark Whispers and kiting Julak through Black Breath.

Overlord Sunderfury has a sense of humor; his name comes from Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker but he's not nearly as intimidating. He spawns on top of the Eye of Vision needed for A Vision of Twilight in central Twilight Highlands. You can easily solo this rare; interrupting Magma Burst can help. He's guaranteed to drop his alliterative cloth pants--while there are similar options from Justice Points, these can still fetch a decent price on the AH.

Sambas is a regal tamable lion, found in various places in northern Twilight Highlands. He looks like Simba from The Lion King--and his name is a play on the meaning of the word too. This distinctive mount shares a model with Reins of the Golden King, an Alliance mount for earning Guild Level 25. Again, phasing doesn't matter for tracking this rare spawn.

Tarvus the Vile is a strange purple dragonkin, sometimes mistaken for a kobold. He spawns in a southern cave to the west of the Obisidian Forest. Players can fly into this cave, which also happens to be a great location for elementium and pyrite nodes. While there are BoE ilvl 359 boots, his guaranteed leather spirit boots aren't a bad starter option.

Uldum is known for the infamous Mysterious Camel Figurine but there are several easier rares you'll come across in the meantime.

Akma'hat, a world boss, is guaranteed to drop the Belt of a Thousand Gaping Mouths in addition to another BoE epic and a recipe. He's located in central Uldum by the Obelisk of the Sun and the Ruins of Ammon. An impressive-looking Tol'vir colossus clad in gold and jewels, he can be killed by simply a party in 4.2. Run away from harmful patches during Fury of the Sands, nuke down the Stone Mantle shield, run away from Shockwave, dispel Sands of Time--and you've triumphed over a minor god!

Armagedillo, a metallic armadillo that sadly cannot be tamed, has got one of the best-named abilities in the game: Dillogeddon. This mecho-dillo is found just south of Orsis and doesn't patrol very far at all. The resulting weapon looks very intimidating, especially for an ilvl 346 one! Too bad it's not an actual tail, but many spikes can solve everything.

Cyrus the Black a winged Nefeset guardian, drops a decent mail intellect belt and can easily be soloed as an level 85. He spawns in the oasis around Lost City, so you'll run into him a few times while looking for the Mysterious Camel Figurine.

Madexx, a brilliant scorpid, roams around northern Uldum to the east of the Obelisk of the Moon. He's the Horde equivalent of Sambas--he shares the same model as Kor'kron Annihilator, a reward for achieving Guild Level 25. He's on a fast respawn and can appear in one of five colors--red, green, back, blue, brown--each on their own IDs, so dedicated hunters can try finding several colors.

While it's nice to run across those other rares in Uldum, we all know you're secretly wishing to find one of these figurines, and then hoping it ports you to Dormus the Camel-Hoarder. These figurines are scattered around Uldum, generally where camels are found. They're tiny and hard to see, plus NPCscan sometimes doesn't pick them up. To top it off, generally you find a dud figurine. But if you get lucky, you can get ported to Domus in The Steam Pools, who drops the Grey Camel after a very easy fight. You'll get the Feat of Strength Scourer of the Eternal Sands and the title "the Camel-Hoarder" as a result. It's truly like finding a tan needle in a tan haystack--happy hunting!

The Molten Front is an exciting new zone in 4.2, full of dailies, lore, adventure, and danger. It's also the location of seven new rares for hunters to tame, each with their own unique trick. When we presented the original batch, many of you weren't impressed by the models. While the two later rares are quite shiny and distinct, the real thrill in collecting these rares will come from devising a clever taming strategy, not the actual stabled pet.

Anthriss (Hunter Tame)

Anthriss, a hostile yellow fire spider, is found by the Magma Springs. Anthriss has the buff which melts while in lava--so you'll have to stand in the nearby lava to get while taming it.

Deth'tilac (Hunter Tame)

Deth'tilac, a hostile purple spider, is located behind the Forlorn Spire. Deth'tilac has the buff , making it immune to being tamed unless it's at low health. Easier said than done; Deth'tilac has 38,745,000 health on the PTR and uses which increases movement speed when not attacked and which reduces healing by 99%. It also uses which kills a player but also reduces maximum health by 10%.

Karkin (Hunter Tame)

Karkin spawns in Fireplume Peak--you'll reach him by jumping off Skitterflame's Ledge. He is a crab with a shiny metallic skin that casts a frontal fire attack from range. Again, you will have to jump between floating rocks to get in range to tame Karkin, but not too close or else you’ll be attacked.

Kirix (Hunter Tame)

Kirix, a hostile green lava spider, is located in the Furnace. Kirix hits extremely hard and is buffed with which deals AOE nature damage and additional damage to pets and minions.

Skarr (Hunter Tame)

Skarr is a gorgeous black cat with glowing eyes who is also located on various floating rocks in Fireplume Peak. He starts off hitting weak, but hits harder over time. The trick is to tame him from another floating island--you will need to be good at jumping as flying mounts are not allowed on the Molten Front. We can't stress enough how awesome this model is; there's nothing quite like it that you could tame before.

Skitterflame (Hunter Tame)

Skitterflame, a hostile red lava spider, is located at Fireplume Peak. He starts off with a full energy bar and the buff , making him immune to being tamed. Frost and ice traps will lower its energy with , allowing you to tame it at low energy. However, if Skitterflame's energy goes down to 0, it will die, due to . Lava will refresh its energy bar.

Solix (Hunter Tame)

Solix, a hostile orange spider, is located in the Rune Cave in the Ignacious Depths. Solix is buffed with , which makes it immune to being tamed. It also has , increasing its attack and movement speed by 1000%, making short work of unsuspecting players. You will need to stun Solix in order to tame it; having the quest can help because you can gain a protective fire buff.

Achievements

Dedicated achievement collectors will try to snag the following achievements: Medium Rare/Bloody Rare in Outlands and Northern Exposure/Frostbitten in Northrend. View these achievements as training for finding even rarer mobs--most of these mobs can spawn a few hours after a server reset, but some even sooner. The Outlands achievements, at least, shouldn't be too bad to do because the zones are deserted; but good luck if you're trying to find Vyragosa on a PvP server.

All of the following mobs drop a rare BoE with random stats that's named after them.

Blade's Edge Mountains

Hemathion is a black dragon found by Ogri'la, a subzone only accessible with flying.

Speaker Mar'grom is an ogre with a distinctive staff located in all of the zone's ogre encampments.

Hellfire Peninsula

Fulgorge is a worm that can spawn where other burrowing worms are found. You can tell when he's about to spawn because his pebbles will be deep red instead of white (like the regular worms) and fly higher into the air. Still, this is a tricky rare to find.

Terror Spinner, a tamable spider with a nondescript brown skin, spawns in several areas in the northern part of the zone.

Classic Instances

In vanilla, dungeons came with their unique sets of rare mobs that added to the flavor of the zone. With the dungeon revamps in Cataclysm, these rare mobs are still around and it seems like their spawn chances are higher now. We've highlighted the rare mobs that drop fun vanity items or exceptional items--most drop well-itemized blues but with heirlooms and improved leveling options, most of these options will be replaced quickly.

Bannok Grimaxe is located in the lower-most part of LBRS, normally right before the spider gauntlet. A level 85 can take shortcuts to jump down easily, aggroing all the mobs and dying quickly if he isn't up. He drops the coveted Plans: Arcanite Reaper and a few neat blues like Demonfork.

Ghok Bashguud is good at bashing in skulls, if Hurd Smasher and Bashguuder are any indication. He's located at the top of the ramp next to Halcyon's Den and likes to lay down on the assorted floormats.

Everyone used to be excited when Jed Runewatcher spawned, but sadly his rares are obsolete thanks to heirlooms--Briarwood Reed was a powerful caster trinket in vanilla. Serpentine Skuller is still a great option for leveling casters. He's located in the main hall after The Rookery, immediately before you jump down to fight in the Hall of Blackhand.

The Graveyard Wing has three rare spawns that can drop some great twink gear. If you don't see them upon reaching the Graveyard, kill straggler mobs which can force them to spawn. These rares can spawn by the two small tombs on the left and right of the main path, as well as inside the main tomb.

One of everyone's favorite rares, Hearthsinger Forresten is a cheerful minstrel whose personality shines through even in undeath. You'll find him by entering Stratholme from the Living side, looking for his three spawn points in Festival Lane or Market Row. His most famous item is the Piccolo of the Flaming Fire, a trinket that causes everyone nearby to break out into dance, but his other items are funny too: the skimpy Woollies of the Prancing Minstrel, neon Rainbow Girdle, and unluckily-itemized Songbird Blouse, also notable for being a piece of armor that resembles a tailoring shirt.

Marisa du'Paige, one of Van Cleef's most skilled mages, has a small chance to drop the BoE Walking Boots, the best caster boots before level 19 for Alliance. She's also located outside the instance and wears a strange hybrid version of the Lovely Black Dress.

Meshlok the Harvester, an elemental near Poison Falls, drops Bloomsprout Headpiece which used to be a great twink item until the stats were reallocated. Also drops a nice chest and cape that can be replaced with heirlooms now.

Dustwraith, a troll rogue, can spawn near most any boss. His signature item is the off-hand Desertwalker Cane, which is not just any off-hand. It's absurdly large and unlike other offhands, does not vanish outside of combat; it remains on your back.

Hunter Rares

In addition to the 10 new tames introduced in 4.2, there's numerous rare mobs to be tamed in Azeroth. We guarantee there's the perfect pet out there to suit both your practical and vanity needs. We'll highlight the remaining rare tames with unique skins, but be sure to check out Petopia for a complete list of everything you can tame, from color-changing pets to summoned quest mobs.

The following exotic pets are only tamable by hunters who have specced into Exotic Beasts. If you dual-spec out of this talent tree, you will keep your stabled pets but will not be able to use them.

Chimaeras

The Evalcharr is a golden-green rare found to the west of Gallywix's Pleasure Palace in Azshara.

Nuramoc, needed for an achievement, can be located along several island ridges in Netherstorm.

The Razza, formerly besting champions in Dire Maul's arena, has since moved to southeast Feralas. It's a two-headed icy-blue pet with dark blue accents.

Devilsaurs

As covered earlier, King Krush is a rare devilsaur found in Sholazar Basin.

Shale Spider

As covered in our Deepholm section, Jadefang is both sought-after as a hunter tame and for its rare pet.

Wolves

Old Cliff Jumper, a grey wolf, is located south of Aerie Peak in the Hiterlands.

Zone Rares

We lied when we said we wouldn't feature some rares that drop greens. We're not going to feature all of them by any means, but there are a few rares that just stand out for adding to the flavor of a particular zone, whether silly or serious. These mobs grant a ton of additional experience but sometimes it's more fun to leave them up for atmosphere. Descriptions don't do these spawns justice--check out our user-submitted screenshot gallery for each of these mobs.

Duggan Wildhammer, by the Crown Guard Tower, finds himself in a bit of a predicament. As he explains, upon reaching the Plaguelands: " An' when he did arrive there, what'd his dwarf eyes see? / A hundred crates of barley there ta' be makin' inta' mead! / But tha' mead was cursed with th' plague o' death, and now old Duggan, too. / An' surrounded by the Lich King's beasts, what could old Duggan do? / But though I feel the plague within, my hopes 'ave not yet sunk. / If'n I'm gonna be Scourge anyway, I might as well be drunk!"

Rares like Duke Ragereaver found riding around Stratholme and the Plaguelands are named after WC3 DKs.

Lynnia Abbendis, a retconned relative of High General Abbendis, a major figure in Wrath lore, has met the worst possible fate of the Scarlet Crusade--undeath.

If you have a heart, you won't kill Death-Hunter Hawkspear: he's neutral and runs away when you try to fight. His final words are haunting: "You choose my corpse over another ally against the undead? So be it."

Players familiar with the lore of Duskwood won't be surprised to see Eliza visiting her tomb.

Ambermill Spellscribe used to drop Black Tabby Cat in Ambermill; there's contradictory reports on his status after Cataclysm. Ambermill is initially covered in elementals, but after phasing, the town changes.

Nal'taszar flies around the haunted Ruins of Eldareth in Stonetalon Mountains. It's a perfect location because of the nearby Highborne spirits--sprite darters are found all over Feralas near Dire Maul.

Giggler, another reference to the Lion King, is a good partner for Sambas. He's found in northern Desolace.

The Arena in Dire Maul used to feature a rare spawn every 8 hours--it was one of the first encounters to feature rare spawns. Players would rush outside, once they heard the yell, to kill this mob for several blues, including the Orb of Deception. These mobs have since been spread around Feralas.

Varo'then's Ghost was a loyal general of Azshara and helped lead the Highborne to safety in the sea during the War of the Ancients, before Malfurion killed him. Lady Sesspira, a former Highborne, respawns near-instantly; she's good at keeping you company.

Comments

Comment by Teodorwild

Well done !

Impressive work for many of them (rares).

10 / 10

Comment by baradiel

NPCscan is one of the best addons to find rare monsters, NPCscan For The Win!.. Very good Guide btw :)

Comment by baradiel

Very Good Guide! Love all the Pictures and Work!,Yes, Everyone should use NPCScan Its a very very helpful Addon.

5/5

Comment by datgrl

Just wanted to add a couple...

Blacksting - firefly in Zangarmarsh has a unique red skin. If I recall correctly, this guy is the object of a quest in the zone, but he is tameable. You can get the quest, tame him and go back and kill him with your tamed version.

Comment by Bladre

some notes on jadefang: Dunno since when, but as of latest few days ya cant die under the ledge and fly up, you lose the mount once ya get intro the cave. or was it just me?.... but finally used the quest and sat there and logged off fer a while, when i got in? i took 1 min to put poisons on my blades and... SPAWN! YAY and really easy kill

Comment by RamenDreams

How long can it take to find the rares in the Outland for the achievment medium rare i have NPC Scan but cant find them.

Comment by RamenDreams

just posting a comment :)

Comment by Dragon1324

There are some awesome skinned wasps in Tanaris and there are basically hundreds of rares in total. I know that ur only mentioning rares not a full on 'I know all the rares but could u broaden the 'range' of some of ur topics?